BAHAMAS-Police warns criminals they are in a war to take back the Bahamas.

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – A senior police officer says the law enforcement agency is “actually waging war on the criminals to take back this Bahamas” after police detained three people following an island broad search for those responsible for shooting a police officer in the face on Tuesday.

“We will not tolerate your behavior. We will not. We will not tolerate you seeking to engage police officers authorized to protect this great country’s citizens. When you seek to engage police officers, I can say to you police officers are qualified to have the necessary training which could likely result in someone who seeks to engage the police being fatally wounded,” said Chief Superintendent of Police, (CSP) Chrislyn Skippings.

“We are going to be resolute, we are going to be firm, we are not tolerating this behavior, and you will see an aggressive approach to criminals. We are waging war on the criminals to take back this Bahamas. We will not tolerate it,” she added.

National Security Minister Wayne Munroe told reporters, “the public should know, as the Commissioner has said, that saturation patrol is the strategy the police are using. That will mean the police will come into contact, more likely than not, with people who are up to no good, up to menacing our society.

“We continue to say, and this is an example, that the police, when threatened with lethal force, will respond with deadly force, and these people who decide that they want to be menaces to our society, the only line between them and us is the police.

“And so I encourage the public to look at this whole thing in the context that the more patrol vehicles we put on the streets, the more likely police are to come across these persons who are wreaking havoc, and that will increase the likelihood of confrontation between them and police,” he added.

Police said that the officer was shot during an incident where police officers attached to Operation Ceasefire patrolled an area in the capital when they saw three men speeding in a vehicle.

When they signaled with their lights for the vehicle to stop, a passenger in the car’s back seat allegedly fired at them, shooting an officer in his face. The 31-year-old officer was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition.

CSP Michael Johnson told reporters that an aggressive, island-wide search led to the three men being detained and that their vehicle had also been found.

Police said that they had also discovered a large quantity of suspected marijuana in the area, in addition to the car.

Two suspects are on bail for other offenses, including one being electronically monitored in connection with a murder charge.

Johnson, who expressed concern about escalating crimes committed by people on bail, said, “they continue to offend although being on bail and continue to offend for the same serious matter that they are on bail for.

“We will not be discouraged,” he told reporters.